Victims of the infected blood scandal have resumed legal action against the government, with their lawyer claiming there was a “mistake in public office”.
The civil action was suspended in 2018, but was restarted after the publication of the Infected blood inquiry report, with around 500 victims putting their names in the process.
It concerns blood clotting products imported into the US that caused the infection of hemophiliacs and others with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s.
A 2,527-page report by Sir Brian Langstaff found that the scandal could “largely have been avoided” and that there was a “widespread” cover-up to hide the truth.
Since the 1970s, 30,000 people have been “knowingly” infected with HIV or hepatitis C because “authorities did not put patient safety first”, the inquiry report states. Around 3,000 people died.
Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solicitors – which represents 1,500 victims – said: “What we said when we launched this action was that everything the government did was wrong and not only was it wrong, they covered it up and lied about it.
“And, of course, the report supports the view that victims had all those years ago.
“So it’s an action against the government for misconduct in public office.”
PM apologizes for infected blood scandal
In a separate action, around 50 former students at Lord Mayor Treloar College in Hampshire, where boys with haemophilia received contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s, are suing the specialist school for an alleged breach of its duty of care.
The report concluded that children were used as “subjects for research”, while the risks of contracting hepatitis and HIV were ignored, and of the 122 students with haemophilia who attended the school between 1970 and 1987, only 30 are still alive.
Survivors, known as The boys of Treloarsaid in a joint statement that “there is nothing honorable about what happened” at the school, calling on former headmaster Alexander Macpherson to “do the right thing” and return his OBE.
‘They explored our tiny veins’
Steve Nicholls, 57, from Farnham, Surrey, who attended the school between 1976 and 1983, said: “We fully accept that Treloar’s case is a unique case.
“We have been referred to as the darkest chapter of the Infected Blood Inquiry and in order for us to get recognition and justice for all haemophilia boys and their families, we feel it is necessary to take this to the courts now.”
He said Macpherson – who was headteacher from 1974 to 1990 – was “responsible for his staff and the welfare of his students”.
Rishi Sunak called the exploitation of children in Treloar a source of “eternal shame” that is “difficult even to comprehend” in a statement to the House of Commons earlier this week.
The Prime Minister has issued an “unconditional and unequivocal” apology to victims of the biggest NHS treatment disaster, promising that “comprehensive” compensation will be delivered “whatever the cost”.
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According to government documents, people living with an HIV infection as a result of the scandal could receive between £2.2m and £2.6m.
A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases.”
Treloar has been approached for comment.
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